It has long been known that a plurality of trays and similar articles will occupy a minimum amount of space if the articles are complementally designed to allow them to be stacked in nesting relationship to one another.
However, if the articles are snugly nested, some means is needed to separate them, one at a time, when it is desired to load individual trays.
For example, when a stack of nested trays is delivered to a machine that loads items onto individual trays, the trays must be separated from the stack one at a time and delivered to the machine.
This task is conventionally accomplished manually, i.e., an individual posted at the input end of the tray-loading machine separates the trays and deposits them onto a conveyor belt that leads to the first active stage of the machine. The machine then loads predetermined articles into the trays for subsequent packaging and shipping.
Such manual tray unstacking is an economically inefficient way of performing the needed function, but heretofore there have been no teachings or suggestions as to how the unnesting procedure could be accomplished in any other way.